Millennial family, pioneer living

By Ashley Keenan

President Abraham Lincoln signed e Homestead Act in 1862 and said the act was, “worthy of consideration, and that the wild lands of the country should be distributed so that every man should have the means and opportunity of bene tting his condition. To li arti cial burdens from all shoulders and to give everyone an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.”

In 1976, the act was repealed, but not before millions of Americans gained deeds and became the landowners. While the idea of e Homestead Act was a brilliant theory, there were loopholes, un lled promises by the people, and Native Americans who were forced o of their lands and pushed into reservations.

Growing, raising or hunting food, healing sickness with natural means, and not being dependent on cash ow to survive was the only way of living. While the term “homestead” gained its title through the act, the act itself is still an active lifestyle for many. e land is no longer “free” but the idea of living o the land remains the same.

It’s no secret that some millennials have reverted to this lifestyle to raise healthier, independent families. e Ritter family, owners of Seymour Farms in Pennington, have not only embraced the lifestyle, but they’re also sharing it with others. I sat down with Chelsea on a windy, overcast day, at a picnic table in the middle of her garden to nd how their homesteading journey came about.

Chelsea and her husband, Kyle, met 10 years ago through mutual friends in Waller, Texas. is is where they built their dream home.

“I told Kyle that I wanted to live in a fancy neighborhood. Gated community, 4,000-square foot home, I wanted to live high end. We lived there for six months. ree months in, I said, ‘I need to be in the country.’” e Ritters, now with two young children, decided that it was time to adjust their focus, and search for acreage to live self-su ciently.

“I wanted to live in Alabama because I enjoy all seasons. It snows, I can go to the beach and Alabama will always be a red state. We could live anywhere in the United States but my husband said we were staying in Texas, so it was between this house here or a house in Rusk.” e family purchased a newly built, Seymour house on 10-acres Southeast of Crockett in 2018. At that point, the only development on the land was the home itself.

Fast forward to 2023, Kyle and Chelsea now have three children, Violet (7), Benjamin (5), and Amelia (4), and they all contribute to their successful homestead. roughout their ownership, they’ve fenced portions of the land, added a barn, water well, green house, dozens of trees, raised gardens, and made it their own. eir goal is getting their farm fully running so that Kyle can retire from welding. Chelsea said, “He misses so much.”

From 2020-2022, the gardens produced food the family harvested to supply 60 local families with fresh, organic vegetables. is spring, they are planting a three-acre “you pick” garden for the community, and in late summer, their church will plant a pumpkin patch.

Chelsea said, “ ere are so many chemicals in food. I buy what I can’t grow from Azure Standard.” Azure Standard is a family owned and independent company providing families with nonGMO, organic foods and household items. “I was able to set up a drop location in Crockett and there are eight families who buy from them. Azure is farm-to-fork. Our orders are due Wednesday, they deliver the following Friday. ere’s no GMOs, no arti cial coloring, everything is all-natural and grown in the United States. If we don’t grow it, that’s where we buy it. We only eat what’s in season. If it’s cool, it’s soups, squash. You don’t want to eat tomatoes or cucumbers in the o -season because they’ve been modied to grow.”

During our interview, Kyle and Amelia prepped a home for a pig that was on the way. Soon, the family will have a milk cow.

“We only drink raw milk. I pick up raw milk every Friday.”

“We buy a half cow that’s grass fed, no soy, no nisher feed. We raise our own pork. We keep one pig at a time and use them to till our pumpkin and watermelon patches. We raise and process our own chickens. We have individual freezers for chicken, pork, beef and vegetables.” e Ritters use soil from their property and fertilize with rabbit droppings, which is a natural Miracle Grow for crops.

“We don’t pay for health insurance. We each have a holistic medicine kit. Violet was bit by a black widow, I gave her septa. I had anxiety and depression, I cured it by taking snake venom for six months. My children are not vaccinated. We live a completely holistic lifestyle.” A er Violet, their oldest daughter, su ered from a vaccine injury, the family was sent to Texas Children’s hospital.

“A woman, who is now hugely famous on Instagram, came into our hospital room and says, ‘I want you to read Texas Vaccine of Choice. You do not have to vaccinate your child and I would not vaccinate your child anymore. is is a reaction.’”

Violet, Benjamin and Amelia are raised with their feet in the dirt, sunlight on the skin, and a diet consisting of nutrients that can only be found in a garden like theirs. e children are happy, healthy, and thriving.

“We raise bees, because without bees we cannot live. We have four colonies and there are 80,000 bees in each one. ose bees will pollinate for two miles. My seven-year-old daughter is our beekeeper. We help her harvest the honey in May and August, but she does all the other work.” Aside from harvesting the honey, and using the bees for greater harvests, they use the bees’ pollen in capsules to eliminate the dreaded allergy season. e Ritter children were homeschooled until this year. Violet and Benjamin attend public school this year. “ ird grade was eating me alive. I didn’t have a great education growing up in Ohio. I had dyslexia. I’ve overcome that just from homeschooling my kids.”

Chelsea attributes everything that she has learned to her love of reading.

“We don’t have a microwave, we don’t have Wi-Fi in our house, we don’t have a dishwasher. My electric meter is up to be changed but we hope to be completely solar by then.” e growing homesteading movement proves that there are many levels to self-reliance through traditional skills. No single de nition quali es someone as a homesteader. In rural Alaska, popular reality shows depict pioneers who live a lifestyle that would be dangerous and frightening. e Ritter family’s vision of homesteading is comfortable to most, if you can live without WiFi. In 1862, when President Lincoln signed e Homestead Act, pioneers travel by wagon, with butter churning in the back with every jolt, to obtain land to build a hopeful future. Today, more resources are available to us that can allow families to homestead, at any level, with just a bit of hard work and dedication. But all the same, homesteading li s arti cial burdens from shoulders, just like Abraham said nearly two centuries ago.

As I walked through their beautiful two-story home, with cast irons and garlic braids hanging from the walls, books in every corner, Kombucha fermenting on the counter and a meal worm farm growing in the window, I felt a feeling of envy for such a simple and conscience life. As Chelsea ipped through sketch books lled with pages of maps and plans from over their time there, she gleamed with pride as she reminisced on the progression of Seymour Farms.